Inbound Marketing: Reinforcing Brand Leadership

How do you help your sales team close the deal or shorten the sales cycle? It’s with proof of sale.

Even before a prospective client begins the sales conversation with you, they need to feel confident that you can do the job. And, that’s probably the main role for inbound marketing – building confidence for your brand.

It’s probably why inbound marketing is getting a of press; it is the darling of marketing tactics. And, why not? A deep, well thought-out case study can generate qualified leads, build leadership and even close the sale.

Planning Inbound Marketing Campaign

Most of you know a landing page by its short, concise and to the point content, happy faces, and a single message. However, before designing a landing page do check on current styles, some are short while others offer lots of ‘sales text’ to get your email address. Ever before you start your inbound marketing program, step back and review the sales process. If your sales process is consultative but you plan on implementing an aggressive, inbound marketing program, your prospective leads will get confused by the different styles.

Before you begin the Inbound Marketing Campaign, make sure all marketing tactics align with each other, on and off line. Also, attach a goal to the campaign.

Quality, Exclusive Content

When current conversation in the marketing world is questioning the value of providing free content., you maybe thinking that inbound marketing has reached its limit. After all, can free content be part of a successful business model? Is providing valuable, free content really good for business?

Yes!

Quality and freely available content is a great place to start to build your brand’s notoriety. As I’ve said before, content marketing provides the ability to develop your leadership and make the kind of brand image you want. It is yours, and no one owns it, which is a good reason to have your blog and not depend on Facebook other social media platforms.

The Process

The inbound model usually looks like this:

Keywords

Series of blog posts

Gated Content based on the buyer’s buying process. This will include content designed to improve brand awareness, education on products and services, this answers why you and why not the competition. And, content targeted for the decision phase.

Most people get stuck in content creation. But developing quality content is most likely in front of you. Ask your sales team what are the major objections they receive, account managers which features are super sellers and trade associations on what’s trending in your industry.

Gated Content, The Sales Funnel

Now that you’ve got a basic roadmap to develop your company’s brand leadership, you’ll need to also develop the back-end of the sales funnel. This includes selecting the right email marketing platform, CRM and segmenting based on actions.

Case studies and annual reports are usually gated because these are reliable ways where you can claim brand proof, the proof of sale. Written clearly, informative and centered around key messages so that each marketing material can stand alone and support your marketing objectives.

A well-written, thought-out, researched-supported business case study offers you the power to build your brand by showcasing how you work, the processes and solutions involved as well as key brand differentiators.

Example of a Business Case Study

You along with a key client worked together to develop a new feature in your software. This new feature improved data implementation and faster acceptance of software.

Before you begin to write set clear expectations on what you want to accomplish in writing this case study. You can use a questionnaire to conduct a successful interview with your client, and pin point the “money shot” for the Business Case Study and write it into a compelling story.

All that is left to do is promote your Business Case Study, a proof of brand, the value-add document for your sales team.

What can a Business Case Study Do For Your Sales Process?

Builds Brand Proof, Credibility Quickly

Shorten Sales Cycle

Advantage Over Competitors

Establish Brand Positioning

Effective Marketing and Sales Tools

Our Process:

Client briefing, Goal Setting, Timeline

Research and/or background material review

Interview Case Study Participant and/or Client

Outline, Draft and Write the case study, from 1K to 1.5K copy

Work with graphic artists and other specialized partners, if applicable

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I am a marketing communications specialist, strategist, problem solver and founder of The Marketing Boutique. Services also include competitive analysis, public relations, content marketing to help companies reach their business goals.